Not every school receives a personal visit from the U.S. Assistant Surgeon General Dr. Walter Orenstein, but recently Britton Elementary in Oklahoma City received such a visit and was recognized for achieving 100 percent compliance with the school law that mandates all children in elementary school have an immunization record on file. Dr. Orenstein and the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) also recognized Britton Elementary, pre-K to 5th grade, for the 97.5 percent protection level the immunizations provide.

“August is National Immunization Awareness Month, the beginning of the school year for some students, and a great time to publicly recognize Britton Elementary for their performance,” said OSDH Immunization Service Chief Don Blose. “Britton Elementary is to be commended for their creativity in getting out important health messages to the children, parents, and the community about childhood immunizations. With parents and children preparing for back-to-school, the health department wants to remind everyone to put immunizations on their list of things to do.”

“I am very pleased that the parents and faculty worked hard to achieve this goal and we plan to continue our efforts to make sure every child at Britton Elementary receives the best health protection and education possible,” said Principal Kim Zachery.

The protection level means that the children are protected against vaccine-preventable diseases and are up-to-date on their immunizations as designated by Oklahoma law. For elementary students, depending on the grade level, it means children have received five DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertusis), four polio, two MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), two hepatitis A, and three hepatitis B shots.

Anubis Qetlah, coordinator for Schools for Healthy Lifestyles for Britton Elementary School, involved the entire school in an assembly by working with the teachers to conduct a poster contest and an essay contest. He also got the teachers and students involved in performing a musical skit about immunizations. OSDH Senior Immunization Representative for Oklahoma County, Stephanie Natt, and members of the Oklahoma County Immunization Coalition helped find local businesses to sponsor the 21 awards given to the children. There were about 100 entries from the nearly 400 students with other students participating in various classroom activities to learn about the importance of receiving their immunizations on time.